Crawl spaces are found in around 20% of all newly constructed homes in the United States. These spaces provide a variety of functions in the home, including housing the HVAC, electrical, plumbing, gas lines, and irrigation system.

Homes with open vented crawl spaces often have moisture-related problems, like mold and mildew. These problems might compromise the efficiency and durability of your HVAC system. Also, water damage can lead to expensive crawl space repairs.

To avoid these problems, crawl space encapsulation is highly recommended.

When you invest thousands of dollars or more on a home improvement, you want to be sure that everything is done correctly. Here are a few things to avoid while encapsulating your crawl space.

While encapsulating your crawl space will keep it dry, it will not work if there are huge air holes which allow outside air to enter.

If you are encapsulating a crawl space, it is necessary to lock out the outside air sources so that the dehumidifier can condition the air below.

Homeowners often overlook the drainage system & its importance, and assume that encapsulating it will keep the water out of their crawl space.

This is a common misconception, it does not prevent water entry & flooding underneath. Install a drainage system to avoid spending large amounts of money on water-damaged foundation repairs. 

In fact, it may be best to avoid using fiberglass at all. When it comes to crawl space insulation, the material works badly. The results are minor when the material is put in an unconditioned, ventilated room.

Because the material absorbs moisture, it loses its R-value. As a result, it is ineffective as an encapsulating material. Because of the weight of the water, fiberglass sags, creating holes in the encapsulation blanket.

Worse, most fiberglass batches are kept together by a urea-based glue. Mold thrives when fiberglass, glue, and moisture come together. 

Doing it yourself is fun and cost-effective for some. However, assuming you can finish the crawl space encapsulation job on your own is a bad idea.

You risk wasting time, effort, and money if you don’t have the required skills and experience for crawl space encapsulation.

Now, let’s talk about what you need to do. Here are our suggestions:

Before anything else, you need to prepare your crawl space depending on its current state. Some  of the issues may be:

The objective is to encapsulate the crawl space as much as possible from water, dirt, and outside air. Make sure you do the following:

The best course of action is to hire a professional crawl space encapsulation contractor to do the work for you. A professional provides essential experience to the task, ensuring that it is done properly.

Local Exterminator can help you in taking care of your crawl space. Our Crawlspace Care can eliminate a major source of moisture and all moisture-related issues. Call Local Exterminator today!